Day 240: The Space Pirates Episode 3

So, where does Firefly succeed where The Space Pirates fails? It's clearly in the dynamic that makes up the series. Firefly has inside of it a rag-tag bunch of people, all of whom are instantly likeable. They feel like a family aboard the ship, and Joss Whedon has created it such that the viewer feels as if they are part of their family as well. There's a strong sense of belonging associated with the series that makes it what it is. This isn't present in The Space Pirates, which decides to leave people on their own for the most part. Milo Clancy, the product of a one night stand between Mal Reynolds and Foghorn Leghorn, is on his own in his little ship, which means that we don't really have the warmth that exists with Firefly, only awkwardness as we see a man wander about complaining about his solar powered toaster. The funny thing is that Doctor Who clearly knows the secret of Firefly. Think of all the base under siege stories that we've seen over the Troughton era. All of them featured an ensemble group of characters that we grew to enjoy the time of. The power of the ensemble is not to be underestimated, which makes me think that maybe even this blog needs a bit of ensemble in it...